Monday, February 26, 2007

UPDATE: I thought I would add that this particular card happens to be surrounded by controversy. It is, in fact, a machine (hand) cut/ trimmed card and many vintage collectors would never touch it. On the other hand, not only is the card itself scarce, but the lineage of ownership and its historical popularity in the card market will probably trump any notion that it did not come directly from a tobacco pack. Check out this forum for background.

If I'm not mistaken, a uncut sheet was found in a Florida flea market and purchased by a collector. It was subsequently sold to a major dealer who decided to cut up the sheet into individual cards. That dealer sold it to another dealer who trimmed it even more. (Keep in mind it is still within the acceptable size for T206 cards.) From there I believe it was sold to Wayne Gretzky/ Bruce McNall (former owner of the Los Angeles Kings). The card was then sold as a result of McNall's legal problems. Sometime after that it ended up in a Walmart promotion. It was sold by the Walmart winner at auction and has changed hands a couple of times since.